The Summoning
by D0c0rGaster
Summary: Sans and Papyrus get in a spot of trouble with two members of the Snowdin Mafia... And they might not get out of it this time.
1. The After Party Isn't As Fun

The two skeleton brothers were walking down the cold, dark streets of Snowdin on their way back from a New Year's party at Undyne's house.

The fish-like monster had invited all of her friends and (at Alphys's insistence) Mettaton as well to celebrate the beginning of the new year. The fish-like monster noticed that the old friend group hadn't been spending as much time together as they had back when Asgore was still alive and Queen Toriel hadn't returned to the throne from the RUins. So, in a split-second decision that was definitely not out of character for her, she invited all of them over for the whole night.

Papyrus was eager to go, as he hadn't seen Alphys and Mettaton in a long time, and he heard that Undyne was inviting some of her friends in the Royal Guard, which could be his chance to find friends there before he himself joined.

Sans didn't want to go in the first place. As per usual, all he wanted to do was sleep for the whole day and ignore his Sentry job, but Papyrus managed to convince the lazy skeleton to go with him. The younger brother lamented that Sans hasn't been out of the house in days, and he needed some actual social interaction with other monsters, instead of just staying in his room.

The shorter skeleton finally relented to make his brother happy and both of them headed to the party. Much to Sans's relief, Papyrus let them take the River Person's boat, which saved them the long walk to Waterfall.

Once they arrived, Sans proceeded to eat half a hotdog drowned in ketchup, and then passed out on the couch with half of his legs hanging off of the armrest, completely dead to the world.

Papyrus let him be, proud that he managed to convince his brother to get out of bed for once in his life, and went to go chat with Alphys and Mettaton, who was being uncharacteristically quiet in the face of all of these people.

Undyne wasn't so forgiving and prodded the lazy skeleton to wake up and actually socialize with everybody. Sans didn't even stir. After a few more seconds of trying to arouse him, she eventually gave up, calling the skeleton a "hopeless case."

The rest of the partygoers had talked late into the night, and, despite having opened several cases of beer and everyone, (except for Sans, as he was asleep, Papyrus, who refused the alcohol, and Mettaton, for obvious reasons), drank more than one, there were no shenanigans or really inappropriate stuff that occurred. It was an honest surprise to everyone there. Undyne's parties were rumored to be some of the rowdiest in the Underground, and both Papyrus and Sans could vouch for that 100%.

"Sans," Papyrus halted on his walk and turned around. His brother had been lagging behind with every step, unable to find the energy to keep slogging through the snow to keep up with his brother's longer strides. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"nah, bro." Sans said tiredly, brushing off some snow off of his tattered hoodie. "i'm good."

"Are you sure?" Papyrus frowned. "You've been slowing down considerably for the past 10 minutes, and if you're tired, it won't be a problem. I know how late it is"

"yeah, i'm sure." Sans waved him off. "you keep walkin'. i'll ketchup."

Papyrus sighed at the pun. "If you say so, brother." The taller skeleton turned and continued to walk down the seemingly deserted streets, slowing down his walk significantly to keep pace with his older brother's slower strides. He decided to fill the uneasy silence with quiet (quiet as a skeleton can be who doesn't know the definition of a whisper) chatter about Undyne's consideration for him to join the Royal Guard, and his thoughts about the party.

Sans was only half-listening as he was exhausted down to the bone. In between keeping track of the progress Alphys was making in Anomaly Science and other human-related things, shuffling his Judge duties around managing Papyrus, and his Sentry duties his brother needed him to do, he had next to no time to sleep or get some rest. Because he's too lazy to walk everywhere in the Underground, he always has a constant drain on his magic and no way for him to replenish it. He tries to snag naps when he can, but Papyrus usually wakes him up, claiming he needs to get out more and stop being such a lazybones.

Sans can't blame his brother for his sleep-deprived self. If anything, it's his own fault for keeping Papyrus as far away from the concepts of Resets, Timelines and Save Files as possible. Sans doesn't want to trigger a domino effect in Pap's brain and make him remember all of the times Frisk, being possessed by Chara, murdering all of his friends and then him. He doesn't want him remembering the piles of monster dust littering the streets of Snowdin, the air being clouded by the excess dust, choking anybody who was unlucky enough to still be alive during these desperate times.

Sans sighs heavily and tries not to slow down again. For some reason, walking along this darkened street with no other monster in sight and only hearing the crunch of snow underfoot and the faint clack of bones is really creeping him out. Papyrus had stopped talking when he realized that Sans was only half paying attention to him, and the older skeleton felt a stab of guilt in his SOUL. I'll have to make it up to 'em.

A shadow flitted in his peripheral vision, and Sans whipped his head around, only to spot nothing in the little alley branching off the street. By all- Sans, you're getting too paranoid again. Nothin's there. There' s no reason to jump outta your skin. Heh.

After a few minutes, Sans could hear the crunching of snow behind him. The short skeleton stiffened and quickened his pace. It was probably just another figment of his imagination, but he couldn't be too careful. He knew he was vulnerable to attack because his magic was so depleted after using it up so much without replenishing it. He inwardly cursed himself and tried to ignore the snow seeping through the paper-thin fabric of his ratty pink slippers.

Papyrus abruptly spun around after he heard a sickening crunch and a small thump muffled by the snow. His jaw dropped open and a small gasp when he saw his brother lying in a crumpled heap on the snow with two tough-looking monsters looming over his body.

Both monsters had on large leather jackets that were ripped in several places, a white shirt with suspicious-looking red stains on the monster on the left's shirt stood out against the white fabric of the shirt. He also had a long pink scar running through his right eye and the tell-tale black swirls of ink of tattoos. He looked like a cross between a tree, a rock, and a fire elemental. His head spouted out red flames that lashed the air, seemingly having a mind of their own. His right hand was curled into a humongous fist the size of a house, If it was made up of what looked like millions of tiny pebbles smashed together. On the other and, his left looked like the trunk of a sequoia tree that had been injected with some weird alien lava. Small green vines intertwined with the red bark and disappeared up his sleeve.

The other monster was shorter than the other but made up for his lack of height with the cold and threatening look he leveled at Papyrus. He was another fire elemental, and the color of his flames was black, which is the rarest color for those particular monsters. However, half of his face was completely devoid of flames. They too seemed life-like in their appearance, snapping and crackling in the air. There was only cold, hard rock that steamed a little in the cold night air.

It was clear to Papyrus that these two were a part of the Mafia in Snowdin if their cloak and dagger emblems on their shirts were anything to go by.

As head of the Sentries of Snowdin, the younger skeleton had been asked by Undyne to help in the capture of the bosses of them. So far, the Royal Guard had only captured one of them, and he wasn't talking. But they all hope, Queen Toriel included, that the monster would reveal important information.

The black flame monster opened his maw and spoke in a harsh and guttural voice that grated against the skeleton's ears(?). "Papyrus. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Papyrus immediately recognized it. After all, Sans had used that very same tone with their friends and even Papyrus himself on some occasions.

The younger skeleton decided to play dumb to see if the two menacing monsters would reveal any information and to stall for when Sans would regain consciousness. "Oh, are the two of you fans of mine? Well, I am the Great Papyrus after all, and I am happy to sign any autographs that you give me." Papyrus looks down at his brother with worry in his gaze. "Though you could have asked without incapacitating my brother."

The monster with the tattoos growled and stepped forward, answering for his partner. "We ain't fans a' youse, and we definitely don't want yer autograph."

Papyrus felt cold chills running down his spine, and it felt like somebody just dumped a whole bucket of snow down his backbone. The skeleton told himself that whatever happens, he will stay strong for his brother. I'll also have to bring the two monsters in for questioning… after I defeat them of course. "Then what do you want?" Papyrus asked, keeping up his dumb act. "Undyne's autograph? I'm very good fr-"

"NO!" The scarred monster roared, his magic and flames lashing out angrily. "You stupid little-"

He cut himself off when his partner raised a warning hand. "Your friendship with the Captain is exactly why we're here. You see, a very powerful friend of ours has realized that you've been snoopin' around our business, poking your head where it don't belong and asking questions that you shouldn't be askin'."

The tattooed monster took over for the fire elemental, as he looked tired from using his voice. "He asked the two of us to bring youse in for some...friendly questionin' about...your line of work."

Frowning, Papyrus readied his magic for an attack, and he subtly shifted into the beginnings of a battle stance. "Well, this doesn't seem that friendly. If you came by tomorrow, I would've been happy to answer any questions you might have! You've already knocked out my brother, which you didn't have to do if you wanted to simply chat."

The black flamed monster laughed, or rather, did an impression of a laugh. It sounded wrong, like somebody poorly pieced together recordings of laughter and then pasted a staticky sound over that. Papyrus tried not to let his discomfort show. "Oh, yes I did. If your brother knew where we were taking you, he would dust the both of us."

Papyrus cocked his head, visibly surprised. Sans...dusting any monster? It's unfathomable! My brother is one of the laziest monsters in the Underground. He's barely able to get up to go to work, let alone work up the magic needed to dust a monster. What is he talking about? "Sans would do no such thing!" He said aloud with a hint of fondness. "My brother is too much of a lazybones to do that."

The black flamed monster laughed again, the sound making Papyrus flinch imperceptibly. "You'll be surprised at what Sans can do."

Apparently, there was some unspoken communication between the two monsters, and after the black fire elemental was finished speaking, the other gang member summoned a long spear made out of rock and flame. It made a whistling noise as it sliced through the air, and Papyrus only just managed to duck under the weapon right before it made contact with his skull.

His own magic flared up defensively, and he channeled that into summoning a spear of his own, though it manifested as a bone, and not a rock spear. Lifting it up, he blocked an attack from the black fire elemental, and in return, he sent an attack of his own, the blue light illuminating the night and turning the snow around it a neon blue.

A whip made entirely of red flames cracked over Papyrus's head, and the startled skeleton looked up just in time to catch a face full of black bullets, sending Papyrus flying backward to land in the snow.

Stunned, he lay there, recovering his breath before the two gang members stalked towards him, the tattooed monsters whip-cracking threateningly above the injured skeletons' head.

That was the moment Sans begrudgingly rejoined the waking world. Groaning, he sat up, rubbing at a tender spot on his skull. It throbbed as if he'd drink too much alcohol at Grillby's again, and his vision was blurry. Even the dim light of the artificial moon in Snowdin made him want to puke. He dropped onto his elbows, his head too dizzy to hold him up.

He was about to sink into dreamland again when a pained grunt from his brother made his eye sockets fly open. "P-paps…?" He croaked, propping himself up on one elbow again.

Papyrus was sure that he had a broken rib. He was on his feet, facing his advancing attackers, when the whip sliced across his chest, tearing a hole through his body armor and striking his rib. He stumbled back, one hand on his wound, his blood blending in with the red fabric of his glove.

He heard the black flamed elemental laugh once more and say to his partner, "Don't beat him up too bad, Tat. The Boss still wants 'me alive for questioning. Just knock him out."

"I make no promises." Tat sneered.

Sans shook his head, trying to rid his head of the clouds residing there, blurring their vision. I-I've gotta… gotta go help Paps…

But when he tried to stand, his legs simply collapsed underneath him, his bones unable to sustain his weight. "N-no! Gotta get…"

He couldn't finish his sentence, and his magic flowed up around him, the dark blue color draping around him like a protective blanket. His eye sockets widened in realization. I'll just...t-teleport over to h-him and summon G-Gaster... Blasters.

Papyrus gritted his teeth against the pain of his rib and rose his head, gathering his magic for a simple bone slide to distract the two while he gets his bearings. But all attempts at magic were halted when he saw his brother's familiar blue magic flare-up.

Quickly turning on protect mode, he quickly assessed the battlefield. The two monsters were almost directly in front of him. Only a few yards separated them. Luckily, Sans was behind him, so the gang members couldn't use him to their advantage. Hopefully, he'll stay put and not move anywhere before he can take care of the threat.

But that wish was futile. With the slightest bit of exasperation and a heavy dose of surprise, Papyrus witnessed his brother's magic gathering together like a cloud of smoke trapped in a box, and then simply...disappear.

Tat and his partner saw that Papyrus was looking at something behind them, and both of them turned just in time to miss Sans popping up next to Papyrus.

A dusting of snow lifted up into the air at Sans' arrival, and the older skeleton grunted at his heavy landing. It wasn't as smooth as his other teleports, and his skull was pounding in protest. He was lying uncomfortably in the snow; somehow he managed to get his right arm stuck under him, and his clothes were heavy with moisture.

"Sans?" Papyrus squeaked in surprise. "H-How…?"

Sans blinked, his magic rising up to curl with Papyrus's own. "honestly, i'm surprised that the teleport worked." The smaller skeleton looked up at the blurry outline of his brother and immediately focused on the blood seeping through Papyrus's white battle armor. "...did they-?"

Papyrus's eyes widen and he quickly looks up to see the two attacking monsters readying their second attack, their magic radiating anger and surprise. "We can't speak now, brother. First, I have to take care of these two hooligans."

Sans internally flinched at the pain he heard in his brother's voice, and he resolved to make the two strangers pay for what they've done. "paps, you don't have to do it alone. you're injured, bro, and they're too strong for you to take on alone."

Before Papyrus could respond, the unnamed black flame monster sent another barrage of bullets, this time aiming for the more vulnerable skeleton on the cold ground. "No-!"

Lifting his hand, Sans barely managed to summon a wall of bones to block the attack. The bullets exploded against the bones in a flash of purple light.

Sans let the edges of his mouth curl up in a smile as he looked at Papyrus. "see? i can help too."

Papyrus summoned another bone spear and blocked Tat's whip as it flew towards him at lighting speed. He winced as that movement jarred his broken rib, but he brushed off the pain to deal with it later. "Sans, you can barely stand!" He called over his shoulder, yanking Tat's whip out of his hands with his spear. "Just leave this fight to me. Don't worry, The Great Papyrus will protect you!"

Sans flinched at every flash of light from the fight monsters attacks. "but...who will protect you…?" He whispered. Something within him hardened, and he blinked again, ignoring his probable concussion, and held out his hand, seeing a long bone materialize in the air. Snatching it, he slowly sat up, and using it as a crutch, he painfully stood up.

Papyrus gasped in surprise as the black fire elemental sent a wall of flames roaring his way. Thinking quickly, he rolled out of the way and put up a wall of his own in front of Sans, the blue bones blocking the deadly fire from harming his brother.

It's a good thing I have no lungs to speak of, Papyrus thought wryly, sending a storm of bone bullets over to their attackers. Or else I would've been dead right now. My rib feels like a loose stick, rattling around in my ribcage.

A crack from behind him made Papyrus whirl around, and he watched helplessly as Sans got roughly picked up by blue magic and then tossed unceremoniously against the side of a brick house, landing on the snow with a sickening crunch. "Sans!"


	2. The First Sparks

There was only pain. Blinding, white-hot pain. It was everywhere, racing through his bones sparking up his spine to explode in his head. It was alive, curling around him in a tight grip. Sound was muffled, and his name reached him as if he were underwater.

"Sans!"

He couldn't move, couldn't see, but somehow, he knew that his brother was the one who called his name with such pain filling his voice. He knew that he had done something, something to hurt his brother, and he was filled with guilt, pain, and misery. He knew that he'll never forgive himself for making his brother say his name like that.

Memories swam in his head, along with blurry light and magic flashes, and he almost dusted right then and there. But he held himself together. _F-for Paps..._

Papyrus was torn between going to his brother to check if he was still there, still alive, and dusting the gang members and then incinerating their dust.

His kinder nature won out, and he slipped and slid over to where his brother was lying broken in the bloodstained snow. He put up a cage of blue bones around the two gang members, though the distraught skeleton didn't notice orange magic mixed in with the attack.

Dropping to his knees beside Sans, Papyrus stared in horror at the broken ribs sticking out of tears in his shirt. Blood soaked through the white material, seeping into the snow. His eyes were closed, and he seemed about ready to dust.

The taller skeleton reached out with a trembling hand and grasped his brother's arm gently. "S-Sans…?" He whispered.

The gravely wounded skeleton turned his head and looked up at his brother. "p-paps... i-i'm so...sorry…"

With a start, Papyrus realized that there were actual...tears in Sans's eyes. He can't remember the last time his brother had cried in front of Papyrus. It was completely out of the question. Sans would always be the strong one, there to hold the both of them together. "Sans, there's nothing to be sorry for," Papyrus reassured him, feeling tears of his own well up in his eyes. "You're going to be okay."

Sans turned his head and coughed, crimson blood trickling out of his mouth. "I-i've hurt...y-you if you spe-speak...in such a pain...pained voice."

The taller skeleton shook his head and continued to reassure his brother that he's done nothing. "Sans, it's not your fault. Tat and his friend back there are the ones who did everything."

Papyrus couldn't put it off any longer. He had to know if Sans was in any danger of immediate dusting, and whether or not he had any time to take care of the two monsters, who were struggling to get out of the temporary bone cage Papyrus trapped them in. Papyrus gently pulled Sans' SOUL out and gasped at the state of the poor thing.

Many hairline cracks along with one large fracture almost splitting it in half mar it's strange dark blue and white surface, and the thing seems tinier than it was when Papyrus last saw it, many years ago. The fissures across its surface had a black, wispy smoke wafting out from it, and the large crack in the middle actually dripped a strange...red fluid.

*CHECK

*Sans

*.23/1 HP

*Sans is dying.

Papyrus's eye lights go out when he sees that, and he feels a warmth radiating from his right eye. "Sans…" Papyrus knows that when this is all over and when Sans is healed, they'll have a nice, long chat about the state of his SOUL.

He hears his attacks break, and the trapped monsters are free from their cage of bones. Papyrus can feel their rage radiating from them, even standing so far away from the pair. Whirling around, he keeps his brother behind him as he stalks closer to them. "This is the last straw!" He yells, his magic rising up in response to the threat and his own anger. "You can hurt me all you like but nobody, nobody injures my brother and gets away with it."

With that statement, the enraged skeleton launched himself at the gang members.

He uses blue magic to lift up the black flamed monster, and Papyrus flings him away from him and Tat, who has crafted another whip and was trying to knock the skeleton off balance once again.

Papyrus was like a whirlwind, simultaneously blocking Tat's attacks and keeping the other fire elemental back with a storm of bones and keeping his ground, not giving an inch to the monsters.

He felt sparks of his magic flicker into existence next to his head, and he subconsciously feeds more magic to the forming attack without noticing its presence.

Ducking under the deadly whip, Papyrus sweeps out his leg, causing Tat to crash onto the ground with a pained oof. The maddened skeleton snarls in a tone very unlike his regular self when he sees Tat being picked up by blue magic that is not his own and brought back to where the other elemental was. He looks feral, with his eye lights gone and the orange warmth still leaking from his right eye, casting an orange glow onto the ground. He can still sense blood dripping down his side, but he can't feel any pain from his wound.

He barely registered the black fire elemental's noiseless exclamation of surprise, and Papyrus didn't give him time to say anything before a heavy bombardment of bone bullets rocketed the attacking monsters way, causing them to quickly dodge them.

The pair had sustained heavy damage, and half of Tat's face was matching his partners, the right side doused. Both of their clothes had numerous holes torn in the fabric, and the black fire monster had a deep gash on his upper thigh that was dripping blood onto the snow. They both moved more sluggishly than they had before, their injuries slowing them down quite a bit. They were no match for the anger-fueled skeleton, who was running on pure adrenaline and rage.

However, Papyrus wasn't spared any injury, though he wasn't wounded quite as badly. His battle body armor was completely ruined. The part covering his upper torso was in tatters and some of the scraps of fabric were actually smoldering. Several lacerations crisscrossed his bones, and he was bleeding heavily from his left shoulder. The skeleton didn't seem to notice any of this actually. He was completely focused on the monsters in front of him and the ensuing battle, though he can sense that its heat was drawing to a close.

Papyrus caused a line of rough, jagged bones to jut out from the ground, while also sending more bone bullets to rain down on them from above. Caught in between, Tat and his partner had both of their HP drop significantly, yet they still fought on. Under any other circumstances, Papyrus would admire their Perseverance and Determination, but this were these circumstances, Sans lay gravely wounded behind him, and he had to hurry and heal him with whatever magic he has left after this.

"You this youse can defeat us?" Tat jeered his whip almost striking Papyrus in the leg bone. "Youse ain't strong enough, ain't powerful enough to get us. You couldn't even protect yer own brother!"

"Kindly shut your face," Papyrus growled, trying to maintain some semblance of politeness. He put a wall of unmoving blue bones to shield himself as he checked if his brother was still alive and not dusted.

Sans remained an unmoving blue and red lump in the snow, and he seemed smaller and more sad-looking without his customary smile and ready-made joke, eager to cheer Papyrus up if he was feeling a bit down.

Papyrus quickly dissipated his blue bone wall and fired a single bone attack fused with the orange magic that exploded on impact, throwing the two monsters back. Shards of bone flung everywhere, one narrowly missing impaling Papyrus in the skull.

Tat was the first to recover, sending a large mass of rocks molded with flame rocketing towards Papyrus. In response, the skeleton summoned his bone spear and swiped it at the attacks, neutralizing them with tiny explosions before they could reach the skeleton.

"Y-you're a failure." Tat's voice had a slight tremor in it, one from fear or exhaustion, Papyrus didn't know and didn't care enough to know. "You've failed to save your brother and now he's close to dusting behind you, and what do you do? Satisfy your need for revenge, satisfy your need to destroy us. Everyone who thinks you're a saint has been deluding themselves this whole time. You, Papyrus, are selfish. You haven't done enough to help your friends."

The black fire elemental chipped in as well, his guttural voice making the point hit home even more. "Why do you think Undyne hasn't let you in the Royal Guard? She clearly sees your true personality, and how utterly weak you are."

The skeleton flinched violently and some of his anger subsided, replaced by the lurking guilt and anxiety he's tried so hard to hide all these years. Tat, unknowingly or not, had voice every single one of Papyrus's fears. His magic immediately shot back to him, curling tightly around his SOUL, the half-sentient aura somehow aware of his distress.

Papyrus could feel a swirling vortex of energy above his head, too noticeable to be ignored. He slowly lifted his head, both dreading and anticipating what he might see.

The magic bubble, for lack of better words, forming above him was completely unexpected.


	3. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

The attack was simple in its appearance, having a twisted head of snow-white bone and things that looked like talons jutted out from its snout. Orange magic, his magic , sparked along the skull of the beast, radiating a strange sort of warmth, not quite like the heat of a fire, but something heavier and more substantial. Papyrus knew somewhere in his SOUL that the skeleton creature was somehow intimately connected with him and his very essence, a link that went deeper than simply attack and caster.

Papyrus reached out a hand, and the large skull floated down to rest it's front on Papyrus's hand, brushing against his bony fingers. The skeleton instantly felt energized and rejuvenated. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was earlier until that moment. However, he knew that the brief energy burst won't last long, and they'll have to take care of their assailants first. The attack- No, Papyrus realized. This is a sentient being, and nothing deserves to be called an attack and to be treated like scum if it's actually sentient. I'll have to come up with a name for it. "But first," Papyrus voiced, turning back towards the shell-shocked monsters. "We have to take care of those two."

The black flame elemental was the first to snap out of his daze. Summoning his spear, the elemental had a ferocious look to him. He seemed desperate and uncoordinated in his attacks, the movements sloppy and undefined, lacking in his usual precision.

Papyrus dodged the attempts easily, and he realized that the… Blaster was trying to get him to use it against the threat. The tall skeleton quickly calculated how much magic it'll take to charge the Blaster, and how long it will be until it's ready. Papyrus realizes that he can't battle these two monsters forever. He has a limit to his energy, and he seems to be reaching that soon, judging by the way his bones trembled.

The black flame elemental surprised him with a hailstorm of fire that rained down from above, Papyrus winced as his HP dropped 5 points and sent a long, sweeping blue-tinted bone that forced the gang members to stand still. Papyrus sent a flare of orange magic up towards the Blaster, who slurped it up like he was eating a bowl of spaghetti.

The ground shook beneath him, and he gave a gasp of surprise that was chocked off when he landed onto the frozen ground with a thump, the powdery snow has melted away from the forceful heat of the battle. His bones groaned in protest as he was suddenly seized by the middle with a long black plant vine, which lifted him in the air with a whoosh.

Dangling dangerously above the battlefield, Papyrus knew that he had no net or fail-safe to catch him if he fell, and Sans was too out of it to help here. Papyrus's resolve hardened, and he determined that whatever happened to him, he will make sure those monsters never hurt his older brother again. Sans had done so much for him.

Now it's time to pay him back.

Going limp in the plants grasp, Papyrus focused all of his remaining energy and magic into feeding his Blaster, who anxiously flew up to Papyrus's side when he got taken by the vine. He doesn't know exactly what the Blaster does, what it's capabilities are and the like, but he's confident that whatever it will do, it'll stop those monsters from hurting his brother.

However, his concentration was broken when the vine suddenly tightened its grip, cracking some bone and making Papyrus cry out in anguish. Darkness started to invade his vision, and his SOUL trembled in agony. The steady flow of orange magic streaming towards his Blaster was abruptly cut off, and Tat's voice drifted to him on the wind.

"I'm gonna kill 'em. Imma do it, Vol, I am!"

The black fire elemental, Vol, snarled and hissed at his partner in his rough voice. "Tativon, I swear, if you don't follow Boss's orders again, I'll turn you in along with our prisoner here. We're here to capture Papyrus, not dust 'em like we'll do his brother."

At the words "dust his brother," something snapped within Papyrus, and the warmth that was in his right eye now turned into a roaring, blazing fire, hungry to consume anything and everything in its path.

Papyrus roared , the primal sound escaping his mouth in a burst of sound. " NOBODY TOUCHES MY BROTHER, NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT."

In a last-ditch attempt, Papyrus channeled his whole entire being, his magic, his SOUL, into charging the Blaster. He screamed as the orange energy left his body and in a flash of light, the Blaster's fire was finally ignited. Orange sparks so dark they looked black flared around the two, and the charged Blaster looked to his caster for permission to fire.

Papyrus dipped his head, fury and desperation igniting his orange eye even more.

A searing heat melted all of the snow in the general vicinity of the beam of light the Blaster fired at the two monsters. They only had time to open their mouths to scream before they were incinerated. The crushing hold the plant had on Papyrus suddenly loosened, sending the weak skeleton plummeting to the ground, now with no snow to help cushion his fall. Papyrus closed his eye sockets, prepared to accept his end when a sharp jerk on his singed scarf slowed his descent down greatly. He glanced up and saw that his Blaster held his scarf firmly in between its teeth.

As he was lowered gently to the ground, Papyrus checked his stats and saw that his Level of Violence had gone up. Seeing the numbers made him feel corrupted and dirty, and the implications of what he's done hit him like a bullet.

_I've just...k-killed two monsters._

Horror and shock run their cold fingers down his spine, and as his boots touch the ground, his bones weaken and he collapses onto the scorched earth with a clack of bone. Tears fill his eye sockets and they drip down his skull as he curls up into a small, shaking ball. _I-I've killed monsters...in cold blood, I-I've killed...them._

His thoughts were in complete turmoil as the rest of the world faded, leaving just him and the remains of Tat and Vol in an endless swirling Void.

He was falling, and a tight feeling in his SOUL squeezed the last of the anger in him and replaced it with an unending sadness that clawed its way through his skeleton. He shook with silent sobs, and the skeleton could feel his SOUL crack. _Yes, please...I need to join them, to repent for my crimes. I've killed t-them I've killed two monsters who were l-living, breathing beings, and I've m-m-murdered them._

Sans awoke slowly to a hammering headache for the second time. Liquid fire sloshed in his bones, and he felt a sticky substance coating him and the half-melted snow around him. His magic was still as strong as ever, though most of it was curled around his SOUL in a protective maneuver he only had happened a few times before when the human was wreaking havoc down here.

He knew that he had at least a few broken bones, and he tried to recall what exactly had happened after the party. _There were...two monsters that had...ambushed him and then…_

Broken fragments of memories swirled around his head, as he struggled to remember what was from this timeline and what was from the other realities he's lived, suffered and died in.

_I remember…_

_Papyrus._

Eyes widening in panic, Sans tries to clear the fuzzy haze clouding his brain and urged himself to remember the details of the past few hours. _My bro had fought off attacking monsters, I took a shortcut and then...pain._

The frantic skeleton took a deep breath and willed his magic to blanket over the abandoned street, trying to pinpoint Papyrus's own magic signature. After a few minutes had passed and he still hasn't found it, Sans began to panic for real, a cold stone of dread sinking into the churning waters of his thoughts.

Then, after what seemed like hours, Sans's searching energy finally found Papyrus curled up in a shaking ball next to a pile or piles of monster dust. His familiar magic had a dark stain on it, and it was faint, fainter than Sans had ever seen it. It was coiled tightly around Papyrus's SOUL, protecting it like Sans's magic had done to him.

Sans noticed with horror as he caught sight of the state of Papyrus's SOUL. A large crack was starting to split it in half, and Sans knew if he didn't do something now, his brother would be gone forever, his dust left to scatter in the wind. Sans couldn't handle having his brother dust right in front of him again without doing something to prevent that from occurring ever again.

The older skeleton gathered his magic around him, preparing to take a shortcut to his suffering brother when he noticed a Gaster Blaster infused with Ppayrus's magic hovering close by its caster. Sans couldn't help a small noise of shock when he saw it and a small flame of pride sparked in him.

Space wrapped around him, and he pushed through the membrane trying to keep him back from moving. Popping into place next to his brother, Sans couldn't stop the shudder of agony that rippled through him. But, the focus couldn't be on him. He had to concentrate on his wonderous, strong and Great brother, and help him see that it wasn't his fault.

Draping his magic around Papyrus, Sans felt his brother still at the familiar aura of his magic. "S-sans?"

"paps…" Sans wheezed, more blood spilling down his mouth. He hurt all over, and he was pretty sure that he had to go to the Hospital before he dusted right here, but he'll hold himself together for his brother. Anything for Papyrus. "y-you're okay…"

Papyrus felt a stab of guilt and something else strike at his SOUL, the impact almost shattering it. "Augh...Sans I-...I'm so sorry I-I should've went...over to you right away and seen if you were okay after t-the-, I just...I just…" At that Papyrus's voice broke down, and he started to sob once more, shivers wracking his body.

Sans pulled himself closer towards his brother and laid a trembling hand on his arm. "hey...bro. It's okay… i-it's- every...everything's okay. you didn't have...t-to worry about me-" He cut himself off with a moan as he shifted, jarring one of his ribs as he tried to get closer to his brother.

Papyrus tensed and uncurled himself, his weak magic twining with Sans' in a mixture of blue and orange. "Sans. P-please let me heal you. I-I've got to make up for...for my lack of...lack of-" A sharp cracking sound interrupted him, and the two brothers looked down at Papyrus's SOUL with matching expressions of panic.

It was disintegrating slowly, wisps of dust breaking off and floating away on the wind.

Sans felt a jerk on his own SOUL, and he knew that another crack had formed. "Paps, you've g-gotta...g-g-gotta stay st-strong…"

Papyrus simply sat there, staring at his disappearing SOUL with blank eyes, not reacting to anything Sans said. He was in shock, the events of the last few hours having fully impacted on his mind.

Sans grabbed Papyrus's hand and squeezed it gently. "Paps…?"

No response.

"papyrus…" Sans knew that both of them were probably close to dusting, and he couldn't do a thing about it. Desperation crept into his voice as he tried to snap his brother out of his daze. "p-papyrus please. "

Nothing.


End file.
